Hat-brim trimmer.



No. 702,870. Patented lune l7, I902. J. R. GBIFF ETH &. H. MUREHDUSEL HAT BB"! TRIMMER.

(Application filed Nov. 19, 1901.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(l0 Model.)

INVENTORS WITNESSES.

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No. 702,870. Patented lune l7, I902.

J. n. G'RlFFETH & H. momanuusa.

HAT BRIM TRIMMER.

(Application filed Nov. 19, 1901.) (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Shoet 3.

WITNESSES. INVENTORJ n4: mams nuns co, PMoru-umm wasnmsmu. n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES R. GRIFFETH, OF NORVVALK, AND HARRIE MOREHOUSE, OF EAST NORlVALK, CONNECTICUT.

HAT-BRIM TRIMMER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 702,870, dated June 17, 1902.

Application filed November 19, 1901. Serial No. 82,859. No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JAMES R. GRIFFETH, residing at Norwalk, and HARRIE MORE- HOUSE, residing at East Norwalk, county of Fairfield, State of Connecticut, citizens of the United States, have invented a new and useful Hat-Brim Trimmer, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to the trimming or planing of the brims of curled hats, and has for its object to simplify and cheapen the construction of machines for that purpose and to greatly improve their operation in use.

\Vith these ends in view we have devised the novel brim trimming or planing machine which we will now describe, referring to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, and using reference characters to designate the several parts.

Figure lis an elevation of the machine complete; Fig. 2, an elevation of the swinging head detached, as seen from the right in Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a plan view, on an enlarged scale, illustrating the hat holder and the brimclamp; Fig. at, a plan view on the scale of Fig. 1, the standard being in section on the line & 4, illustrating the pattern-plate and the track-plate; Fig. 5, an elevatiouof the brimclamp on the scale of Fig. 3, partly in section on the line 5 5ii1 Fig. 3; Fig. 6, anvinverted plan view of the brim-clamp, and Fig. 7 is an inverted plan view of the planing-tool detached.

A denotes asuita-ble base or bed plate,\vhich may he of any suitable shape or size and may rest upon legs or be secured in any suitable manner to a bench.

B denotes a standard extending upward from the base; C, the track-plate resting upon and rigidly secured to the base; D, an expanding hat-holder secured to the upper end of the standard; E, the brim-clamp; F, the pattern-plate, which is rigidly recured to the standard, and G the swinging head. The operative surface of the track-plate is a curved plane having relatively high portions at the sides corresponding to the sides of a hat-brim, relatively low portions at the ends corresponding to the ends of a hat-brim, and inclines at the quarters corresponding to the ordinary incline of the quarters of a hat-brim. The pattern-plate F may be made in parts, as shown in the drawings, said parts being secured to a plate 10, having a sleeve 11, which is secured to the standard by a set-screw 12. The parts of the pattern-plate may be secured to plate 10 by screws 13 or in any suitable manner.

a pattern to which the edgesof hat-brims are 7 trimmed.

The hat-bodies to be operated upon are held by means of an expanding hat-hold er D at the upper end of the standard, the special construction of the hat-holder being immaterial so far as the principle of our invention is concerned. WVe preferably use a hat-holder of the type commonly known as an internal expander, as indicated in the drawings.

An important feature of our invention is the external brim-clamp, which we have denoted as a whole by E and which operates, in connection with the planing-tool presently to be described, to produce better work than has been possible with any machine for trimming curled hat-brims heretofore produced.

14 denotes the brim-plate, which is secured to a plate 15, having a sleeve 16, which is shown as secured to the standard by a setscrew 17.

18 denotes slots in the brim-plate which receive slides 19, whose bases 20 are wider than the slots and rest on the under side of the brim-plate.

21 denotes side plates,and 22 quarter-plates, which are adjustably secured to the slides. \Ve have shown (see Fig. (i) the slides as provided with a plurality of holes to receive screws 23, by which the side plates and quarter-plates are secured thereto. We thus provide for all ordinary changes in the size and contour of hat-brims.

24. and 25 denote, respectively, upper and lower rings which are adapted to oscillate on sleeve 16 and are retained in position thereon by a collar 26, locked to the sleeve by a setscrew 27.

2S denotes links, the ends of which are pivoted, respectively, to slides 19 and to one of the rings, the side plates being connected to one of the ringsfor example, the upper ring--and the quarter-plates to the .other ring, in the present instance the lower ring. The upper ring is oscillated by means of a lever .29 and the lower ring by means of a lever 30, said levers being pivoted to the under side of the brim-plate, as at 31. Each lever is provided with a handpiece 32 for convenience in operation and upon its upper side with a pin 33, adapted to spring into anyone of a corresponding series of holes in the brimplate, the series of holes for locking lever 29 and the upper ring 24 being indicated by 34 and the series of holes for locking lever 30 and the lower ring 25 being indicated by 35. The operation of the brim-clamp will be obvious from the drawings. The operator by means of the handpieces springs the levers down and disengages the pins from the holes. The levers may then be oscillated in either direction to oscillate the corresponding rings and by means of the links to move the corresponding side'plates and quarterplates in or out, as may be required, to grip or release a hat-brim.

H denotes the planing-tool, which is adapted to rotate at a high velocity. This planingtool consists of a plurality of inclined cutting edges, (specifically indicated by 36.)

An important feature of our invention is that the shaft 37, by which the planing-tool is carried, is journaled in a plane inclined to the vet"! ical plane, so that the tool instead of cniti ng in the horizontal plane cuts in a plane inclined to the horizontal. The plane of ac- 1 ion of l he cutting edges corresponds with the desired plane of the finished'i. e., trimmed edge of a hat-brim at the ends, it being obvious that in order to secure this result with a rotating tool the shaft by which the tool is carried must incline to the horizontal plane; otherwise the brims inclining downward at the ends the planing-tool would injure the brinis at the ends. It is a correct definition of the position of the planing-tool to say that its plane of action is parallel to the plane of the brims at the ends and that its shaft is journaled in a plane at right angles to the plane of the brims at the ends.

In trimming or pa ing each hat the swinging head is given a single turn about the standard, the pattern-plate causing the planing-tool to describe the oval of the hat-brim and the track-plate causing the planing-tool to rise in passing from the ends of a brim toward the sides and to descend in passing from the sides toward the ends again. The

side and quarter plates of the brim-clamp act to brace and support the brim while it is being acted upon by the planing-tool, the brim being clamped, as it were, between the side and quarter plates and the planing-tool while the latter is in operation. It will of course be obvious that the construction of the swinging head may begreatly varied without departing from the principle of our invention. Shaft 37, which carries the planingtool, is journaled in a carrier 38, hinged, as at 39, to a plate 40, having a dovetail 41, adapted to slide in an inclined way 42 in a body 43, the forward end of the way being highest and the incline being downward and backward, as shown in Fig. 1. \Ve have shown the shaft as journaled in two bosses 44 and as held against downward movement by collars 45, adapted to rest upon the bosses, but leaving the shaft free to be moved upward in the bosses if necessary.

46 denotes a flexible shaft which is'connected to shaft 37 and by which the latter and the planingetool are driven, the planing-tool being preferably driven at a high velocity.

47 denotes side plates upon plate 40, which retain the carrier and shaft 37 against lateral movement, leaving the carrier and shaft, however, free to be swung over backward out of the way on hinge 39. with it the carrier and shaft, are locked in position after adjustment in way 42 in any suitable manner, as by means of a set-screw 48. Body 43 is adapted to slide freely in a housing 49 and carries at its inner end a roller 50, which is held in contact with the pattern-plate by means of a spring 51, one end of which is shown as connected to the rear end of body 43, the other to the housing.

Roller 50 is made long enough to provide for slide freely in a housing 55, carried by arms 56, which are themselves formed integral with or rigidly secured to collars 57, adapted to turn freely on standard B, housing 55 being provided with a handle 58for convenience in operation. At the lower end of Plate 40, and p standard 54 is a roller 59, which is adapted to travel on track-plate C. It will be seen, therefore, that as the head is swung'around the standard roller 59 will travel up and down the inclines of track-plate O and will cause standard 54 and the parts carried there by, including the planing-tool, to rise and fall as the sides and ends, respectively, of

the hat-brim are presented to the planingtool and that the engagement of roller 50 on body 43 with the pattern-plate will cause said body and the parts carried thereby, including the planing-tool, to move in and out that is, toward and from the center of the hat-holder-so that in its passage around the brim the planing-tool will be caused to describe an oval corresponding to the patternplate and will trim or plane the edge of the hat-brim to that oval.

It will be noted (see Fig. 7 in connection with Fig. 1) that the action of the cutting edges 36 is a downward shearingaction. This, in connection with the external brim-clamp, is the vitally important feature of our invention. With the outer edges of the brim gripped externally by the side and quarter plates and a planing-tool having downwardly and backwardlyinciined cutting edges engaging the inner edge of the brim it will be seen that the portion of the brim that is being acted upon is necessarily gripped and held firmly. The effect of the downward shearing action of the cutting edges, the tool being rotated at a high velocity, is to make a perfectly clean smooth out and to trim down the edge to correspond to the predetermined adjustment of plate 40 and the carrierin which the tool is journaled. It will of course be understood that the cut may be made more orless deep, as may be required, by moving the plate and carrier in or out in body 43 and locking it after adjustment by setscrew 4S and that the line of the out must necessarily conform to the configuration of the pattern-plate. The planing-tool in use is self-olearingand leaves both edges of the brim sharp and clean and without any of the cut-away stock adhering thereto.

The operation of the machine as a whole will be readily understood from the drawings and requires but the briefest description. The hat-bodies are retained in place while being operated upon by a hat-holder, as D, which may be of any ordinary or preferred construction and whose specific construction is not an essential feature of our invention. Having secured the hat in place, the side and quarter plates of brim-clamp E are moved up against the outer edge of the brim by means of levers 29 and 30 and locked there in any suitable manner, as by means of the pins and holes shown in the drawings. The planingtool is then placed in operative position by swinging carrier 38 down to place, as shown in the drawings. The operationof planinga hat-brim is performed by simply givingthe head a swingaround the standard, it being understood that the planing-tool is rotating at a high rate of speed. To remove a hat, the operations are simply reversed. The carrier, with the planing-tool, is lifted up or swung backward out of the way, if preferred. Levers 29 and 30 are oscillated in the opposite direction to move the side and quarter plates outward away from the edge of the brim, and the hat-holder is operated to release the hat, leaving all parts of the machine ready to receive another hat-body, which is secured in place in the manner already described, the operation of placing a hat on the machine, planing the brim, and removing it requiring verymuch lesstime thanittakes to describe it.

Having thus described our invention, we claim 1. In a machine of the character described the combination with means for holding abatbody, means 'for clamping the edge of the brim externally, a rotating planing-tooha swinging head by which the planing-tool is carried, means for causing the planing-tool to describe an oval when the head is swung around and means for causing theplaningtool'to rise from end to side and then descend from side to end of a hat-brim during each half-rotation.

2. In a machine for trimming curled hatbrims, the combination with a stationary'external brim-clamp, ot' a rotating planing-tool, and means for causing said tool to describe an oval.

3. In a machine for trimming curled hatbrims, the combination with a stationary external brim-clamp, of a rotating planing-tool, means for causing said tool to describe an oval and means for causing said tool to rise and fall respectively at the sides and ends of a hat-brim. I

4. In a machine for trimming curled hatbrims, the combination with a rotating planing-tool, means for causing said tool to describe an oval and means for causing said tool to rise and fall at the sides and ends respectively of a hat-brim", of a stationary clamp adapted to engage the hat-brim externally while the inner edge of the brim is beingacted on by the planing-tool. p

5. The brim-clamp E comprising movable side plates 21 and quarter -plates 22, and means for independently moving said side plates and said quarter-plates to grip a brim.

6. The brim-clamp E comprising side plates 21, quarter plates 22, and independentlymovable rings to which said side platesand said quarterplates are connected respectively.

7. The brim-clamp E comprising a brimplate having slots 18, slides insaid slots, side plates and quarter-plates adjustably secured to said slides, independently-movable rings and linksconnecting the blocks carrying the side plates to one ring and the blocks carrying the quarter-plates to the other ring.

8. The combination with a fixed standard B, a hat-holderand a pattern-plate, of a trackplate highest atthe sides and lowest at the ends, for the purpose set forth, a swinging head movable around the standard, a vertically-movable standard carried by said head and engaging the track-plate and a horizontally-movable body carried by said standard and engaging the pattern-plate. X

9. The combination with a standard 13, a hat-holder and a brim-clamp adapted to engage the brim externally, of a horizontal pattern-plate, a track-plate made highest at the,

sides and lowest at the ends, for the purpose setforth,andaswinging head movable around the standard and carrying a vertically-movable standard 54: having a roller engaging the track-plate, said standard carrying a horizontally-movable body having a roller engaging the pattern-plate.

10. The combination. with a standard 13, a hat-holder and a brim-plate having slots 18, of slides 19 lying in the slots, side and quarter plates carried by said slides and adapted to engage the brim externally, oscillating rings upon the standard, links connecting the side plates to one ring and the quarter-plates to the other ring, a pattern-plate carried by the standard, a track -plate highest at the sides and lowest at the ends and a swinging head carrying a vertically-movable standard 54 engaging the track-plate, said standard carrying a horizontally-movable body engaging the pattern-plate.

11. In a machine of the character described the combination with a track-plate highest at the sides and lowest at the ends and a horizontal cam-plate,-of a swinging head carrying a vertically-movable standard 54 engaging the track-plate, said standard carrying a horizontally-movable body engaging the pattern-plate.

12. In a machine of the character described the combination with a pattern-plate and a track-plate lowest at the ends and highest at the sides, of a swinging head comprising a housing 55, a vertically-movable head in said housing which engages the track-plate, a housing 49 carried by the standard, and a springcontrolled body adapted to slide in housing 49 and carrying a roller engaging the patternplate.

13. The combination with a hat-holder, an external brim-clamp, a pattern-plate and a track-plate lowest at the ends and highest at the sides, of a swinging head, a verticallymovable standard carried by said head and engaging the track-plate, a spring-controlled body carried by said standard and engaging the pattern-plate and a rotating planing-tool carried by the body and adapted to act on the inner edge of a hat-brim.

14. The combination with a hat-holder, an external brim-clamp, a pattern-plate and a track-plate lowest at the ends and highest at the sides, of a swinging head, a verticallymovable standard carried by said head and engaging the track-plate, a spring-controlled body carried by said standard and engaging the pattern-plate, a downwardly and backwardly inclined plate adj ustably secured in the body and a rotating planing-tool. journaled in said carrier at an incline to the vertical plane.

15. The combination with a standard 13, a hat-holder and a pattern-plate lying in the the sides and lowest at the ends, for the purpose set forth, and a swinging head carrying a vertically-movable standard 54 having a roller engaging the track-plate, said standard carrying a horizontally-movable body having a roller engaging the pattern-plate.

16. In a machine for trimming curled hatbrims, the combination with an external brimclamp, of a rotating planing-tool and means for moving said tool around the hat and to cause it to rise and fall respectively at the sides and ends of a hat-brim.

17. In a machine for trimming curled hatbrims, the combination with an external brimclamp, of a rotating planing-tool journaled in a plane at an incline to the vertical plane, and means for moving said tool around the hat and to cause it to rise and fall respectively at the sides and ends of a hat-brim.

18. The combination with a hat-holder, an external brim-clamp, a pattern-plate and a track-plate lowest at the ends and highest at I the sides, of a swinging head, a verticallymovable standard carried by said head and engaging the track-plate, a spring-controlled body carried bysaid standard and engaging the pattern-plate, a plate 40 adjustable in said body, a swinging carrier pivoted to said plate and a rotating planing-tool journaled in the carrier.

19. In a machine of the character described the combination with a hat-holder and an external brim-clamp, of a swinging head, a retatin g planing-tool carried thereby and means for causing said tool to describe an oval.

20. In a machine of the character described the combination with a hat-holder and an external brim-clamp, of a swinging head, a rotating planing-tool carried thereby,and means for causing said tool to rise and fall respectively at the sides and ends of a hat-brim.

21. In a machine of the character described the combination with a hat-holder and an external brim-clamp, of a swinging head and a rotating planing-tool carried by said head and journaled at an incline to the vertical plane.

22. The combination with a hat-holder, an external brim-clamp, a pattern-plate and a track-plate lowest at the ends and highest at the sides, of a swinging head, a verticallymovable standard carried by said head and engaging the track-plate, a spring-controlled body carried by said standard and engaging the pattern-plate,a carrier adj ustably secured to the body and a planing-tool journaled in said carrier at an incline to the vertical plane.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES R. GRIFFETH. HARRIE MOREHOUSE.

W'itnesses:

A. M. Woos'rER, S. W. ATHERTON. 

